St. John School Board adopts changes to student handbook

The St. John the Baptist Parish School Board made changes to its cell phone and uniform policies on Thursday, but it was a state-required change to the dropout policy that drew the most discussion among board members.

Brett Duke, The Times-PicayuneA West St. John High School student practices his welding skills in 2009 at South Central Louisiana Technical College, River Parishes campus, as part of a dual enrollment course. Superintendent Courtney Millet said Thursday that dual enrollment is one method the district uses to encourage students not to drop out of school.

House Bill 648, adopted by the Legislature last year, repealed the Dropout Recovery Act 742 and now requires children to remain in school until they are 18. It eliminates parental consent to allow a child to drop out before that, although a child between 16 and 18 can still attend an adult education or vocational education program.

Board member Russ Wise said he is concerned about the more stringent rules, because dropout rates are considered when the state figures school performance scores.

"We continue to have the onus of dropouts fall on the school system when we have no way to control that," he said.

Superintendent Courtney Millet said although the school system cannot stop students who want to drop out from doing so, the district is taking steps to encourage them to stay in school or get their GED.

"That's why we're working now to track our students. If they say they want to get their GED we follow them," she said. "We've got to be proactive, encourage them and follow them along."

Millet said the dropout rates at the district's two high schools are actually low and have improved in the past few years. East St. John had a dropout rate of 2.4 percent in 2009-10, down from 10 percent in the 2007-08 school year. West St. John improved its dropout rate from 6.5 percent in 2007-08 to 0 percent in 2009-10.

The state gives students a grace period to earn their GED before they are considered dropouts and before their dropout counts against their school.

Millet said the district is following students who have dropped out to try to make sure they complete the GED program within the allotted time. She said the district is also encouraging dual enrollment in vocational courses for those students who may be in danger of dropping out.

Board member Albert "Ali" Burl III asked Millet to go a step further by discussing with South Central Louisiana Technical College, River Parishes Campus the possibility of reserving spots for St. John students in its GED program.

"That's a good idea," she said. "I will look into it."

Wise said he thinks it's unfair that the school district gets a mark against it if a student drops out, but parents are not held accountable.

"We need a system to hold parents responsible," he said. "We have no way to keep a kid in school, short of gluing their butt in the chair."

But board member Rodney Nicholas said parents cannot automatically be blamed.

"In my community, we have a lot of single parents. In my household, we have two parents to do the work, but not everybody does," he said. "I can't judge anybody because of my situation."

Burl said the dropout problem must be tackled beginning at the elementary-school level.

"Ultimately, that's where it starts," he said. "They get behind and start to feel they're behind."

Millet said another way the district is trying to stem dropouts is the new St. John Alternative School, which is replacing the Leon Godchaux Alternative Program next year. The school will allow overage eighth-graders to enter the Connections Program, a new state program to reduce dropout rates that is replacing the Pre-GED/Skills Options program.

Among the other handbook revisions adopted on Thursday are two that should make it easier for parents as they begin shopping for school uniforms for next school year.

The district will no longer require parents to purchase shirts with school logos on them. It is also changing the requirement that students wear black or white shoes and socks to state that the district prefers them.

Also, cell phones will not be confiscated from students until a fourth offense.

Students will now keep their phones but serve a one-day in school suspension on the first, second and third offenses. On the fourth offense, the phone will be confiscated and students could suffers penalties ranging from an out-of-school suspension to a possible recommendation for expulsion, depending on the severity of the offense.

After the fourth offense, students will also lose their phone privileges for the rest of the year.

The change was made in response to principals, primarily at the two high schools, who were concerned with staff members being responsible for increasingly expensive cell phones.